I don’t usually like to cross-post my book reviews from GoodReads because it feels like a cheat. But this book was–and is–important for anyone struggling with addiction. I know many people in all facets of my life who struggle themselves or have family members struggling, and I think the information Claudia Christian has in her biography about a possible cure (yes, you read that right) for addiction is a thing to take notice of. At the same time I felt mightly strongly about the book as a whole, and wanted to put my take on it as widely as possible, with the hope of discussing the book in the comments with anyone else who has either read this one or is familiar with the Sinclair Method. So I’m doing what I seldom do and copy-pasting from Goodreads.

This is what I thought of Claudia Christian’s ghosted autobiography, Babylon Confidential. (It’s a bit longer than my standard entry, so I’ve more-tagged it for the sake of the blog’s front page.)

The farther I got into this book the more I kept feeling like I’d heard the story somewhere before. It just kept seeming more and more familiar as CC travelled the globe, slept with dozens of men, partied on Dodi Fayed’s yacht and had abortion after abortion (some therapeutic, some spontaneous.)

Then I realised….this book is a very very long and prosaic version of that Charlene song “I’ve Never Been To Me.” You know, the one where a washed up party girl harangues a housewife with tales of her bygone glory and wails about how out of touch her years of high living left her.

“Oh, I’ve been to NieceNice and the Isle of Greece while I’ve sipped champagne on a yacht
I’ve moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed ’em what I’ve got
I’ve been undressed by kings and I’ve seen some things that a woman ain’t supposed to see
I’ve been to paradise, but I’ve never been to me”

That’s this book in a nutshell. Well, the first half of it anyway. (more…)

Writers’ Advice

"Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it.
Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window."
— William Faulkner